The invention relates to a combination of a magnetic-tape-cassette apparatus comprising a loading device, and a magnetic-tape cassette; and more particularly to an apparatus having a loading drawer which comprises a bottom section which is adapted to receive the cassette and which is movable between a first position substantially outside the apparatus housing or casing and a second position substantially inside the apparatus casing.
The cassette is of the type comprising a housing having a U-shaped slide arranged on the outside of the housing, a main position being slidable along the bottom wall of the housing, and two side portions being slidable along two facing side walls of the housing. These side portions extend from the main portion to substantially half the height of the adjacent side wall. The rear edge of the slide faces a rear wall of the housing and is spaced from the front edges of raised portions of the bottom wall and of the side walls when the slide is closed. In the closed position of the slide this spacing forms a slot in the housing between the front edges of the raised portions and the rear edge of the slide. In its longitudinal direction the slot extends parallel to the rear wall over the entire width of the bottom and to substantially half the height of the side walls, and is situated at a shorter distance from the rear wall than from a front wall of the housing.
A combination of this type is known from EP-A-204.585. It utilizes magnetic-tape cassettes intended for recording and/or reproducing digitally encoded signals, in particular audio signals, on or from a magnetic tape. In such a compact magnetic-tape cassette the U-shaped slide has an important function, to close the housing against the penetration of contaminants. Owing to its construction and other properties this magnetic-tape cassette with the magnetic tape contained therein is suitable for use as an information carrier for signals whose characteristics are comparable in quality to those recorded on optically readable audio discs of the Compact Disc type. The compact construction renders this magnetic-tape cassette suitable for use in magnetic-tape equipment in which the cassette can be placed conveniently and rapidly on the bottom section of a loading drawer or device of the recording or playing apparatus, after which it is brought into an operating position inside the apparatus casing or housing by means of the loading device.
However, the compact construction and the fully closed housing of this cassette make it difficult for the user of the known combination to ascertain in which position the cassette is to be placed on the bottom section of the loading device. When an incorrectly positioned cassette is brought into the apparatus casing, this may cause malfunctioning, defects and loss of time. This is likely to occur in particular under poor lighting conditions when an apparatus is to be loaded blindly, such as in cars, in the case of illegible or incorrectly labelled cassettes, and in the case of visually handicapped users.